Culture

Ghosts on the prairie

October 22nd, 2014

Photo by Sabrina Hornung

The Sims Scandinavian Lutheran Church and The Lady in Gray

Let’s be honest, everyone loves a good ghost story, or at least the vast majority of us do. But fear not, dear readers, the ghost at hand is a benevolent one. I first heard of The Lady in Gray while looking over a copy of “Spooky Creepy North Dakota” by Lori L. Orser. The book explores ghost stories, hauntings and rural legends all within our great state. The Lady in Gray just so happens to hail from Sims, N.D.

Sims is a…

Power to the Public

October 22nd, 2014

Prairie Public celebrates 50 years with a community-driven Golden Gala

The local broadcasting company that brings us “Prairie Musicians,” “Prairie Mosaic,” “Prairie Pulse,” “Arthur,” “Downton Abbey,” “Main Street,” and hours upon hours of other engaging educational programs through television and radio is celebrating 50 years service.

Now the community can find a way to give back to one of its resident staples. On Saturday, Oct. 25, Prairie Public is putting on a…

Prairie Public Embarks on its 50th Year

October 16th, 2014

By Russell Ford Dunker

What began with a hand-me-down trailer house headquarters and television transmitter tower on the edge of Fargo is now a region-wide television and radio network, employing about 150 people in Fargo, Bismarck and Minot. At 50, Prairie Public Television is not showing signs of being over-the-hill. Rather, it continues to embrace technological advances in the medium while remaining remarkably close to the same mission it has had from the beginning – to deliver…

Coworking for creatives

September 25th, 2014

In Fargo, it’s now possible for freelance designers to be co-workers with university professors. It’s now much more possible for a web developer to get over-the-shoulder feedback from a creative writer, or vice versa. Or perhaps a tech entrepreneur needs advice from a coworking attorney. In many cases, people might just find whom they need advice from in the kitchen or in on their way to the bathroom.

While all these professionals may not be employed by the same person, who’s to…

Zeteticon: Inaugural convention put on by local atheists hopes to spark debate

September 4th, 2014

A new local atheist organization is hoping to spur much discussion on science, religion and humanity and put Fargo on the map as place to host such discussions when it holds the first ever local conference of its kind on those subjects on Sept. 13 and 14 at the Doublewood Inn.

Great Plains Atheists are hosting the inaugural secular convention Zeteticon, whose name comes from the word zetetic, which means proceeding by inquiry or a by seeker. Zeteticon organizer and Great Plains Atheists…

You’re Welcome: Unityfest bringing back tolerance and diversity

July 25th, 2014

Unity North Dakota, an organization formed to speak out against white supremacist Craig Cobb’s attempts to take over the small town of Leith, N.D., will celebrate its one year anniversary of fighting for “cultural, ethnic, racial and community unity” and the defeat of Cobb with an eclectic all day festival on Saturday, July 26 at the Red River Valley Fairgrounds in West Fargo.

The event will feature live music (including everything from the punk of Les Dirty Frenchmen to the folk…

TED Talks time

July 17th, 2014

It’s TED Talks time. Tickets are about to sell out. So this article is a complete, rapid-fire attempt to convince you to go to TEDxFargo this July 24 or TEDxYouth@Fargo this July 25. Here goes …

Twenty-two of some of the brightest minds in the area, and in the country, have designed and developed speeches with some of the most exciting and thought provoking ideas imaginable – all for you, as an audience member, to consume, be inspired by and take action with. There will be about 800…

Gooooaaaallll!: U.S. Soccer has finally found fan support.

June 26th, 2014

Thirty seconds into our ninth World Cup appearance “Captain America” Clint Dempsey slid past his Ghanaian defender and put the ball through the net, off the right post.

The twitter-sphere blew up and American fans across the nation were celebrating. They were in disbelief that they finally believed. But what should have been a tone-setting goal became anything but. It became an anomaly. A random act of individual brilliance in an otherwise poor team performance. The next 70 minutes…

The Fort Seward Wagon Train celebrates its 45th year while ND celebrates 125th

June 19th, 2014

The Fort Seward Wagon Train has fascinated me ever since it passed by my grandparents place just outside of Jamestown, N.D. when I was but a wee one-year-old. Covered wagons pulled by mules or draft horses, saddle horses with women in sun bonnets -- what about this equation wouldn’t capture the heart of an imaginative little girl, or anybody for that matter? Yet for some reason it seems to be one of our state’s all too well-kept secrets.

The Fort Seward Wagon Train starts out at its…

DogIDs, for our furry friends

June 5th, 2014

By Rick Abbott

DogIDs’ south Fargo office is pretty different than other offices. A huge, bounding Great Dane named Cyrus quickly makes his way through the building, with River, a yellow Lab, closely in tow.

The business, which sells personalized, engraved dog tags and a slew of other accessories, was started by Clint and Lori Howitz in 2005. What started as hobby turned into a full-fledged business in 2010, when Clint quit his former job to jump in “with both feet.” That year, the…